


Blank

by Selianne



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Assassins & Hitmen, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Multiple Personalities, Rating May Change, Relationships to be added - Freeform, Secret Organizations, Shinigami
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-13 22:57:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11770161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selianne/pseuds/Selianne
Summary: Ichigo has lived a normal life for a long time, but a secret from his past has come back to cause trouble. With his old 'protector', he gets dragged into the world of murder and intrigue by his family friend to join the secret government organization, Shinigami. Needless to say, Ichigo and his other half have quite a bit to work out.





	Blank

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic. Yay! Hope you guys like it. Let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions. Thanks always, Selianne. :)

He lay on the ground, vivid ginger hair matted and dark. The boy couldn’t have been more than fifteen or sixteen. His black tee was ripped and torn and his dark blue jeans were cut and stretched, belt and necklace torn off at some time before he had gotten here. He was collapsed, one leg twisted oddly under him and the other stretched out, arms reaching out as he lay on his side. It wasn’t the bruises that coated his body, running up his arms and peeking out through the holes in his clothes or the sickly green and black marks across his face and abdomen that terrified them though.  


Their attention was focussed on the blood. He was drenched from his matted hair to his to his soaked clothing. Deep red stained his skin and literally dripped from his fingers. It was nearly impossible to believe that the broken form of their friend, the pool of life beneath him churning their stomachs. Renji and Rukia looked like they were going to be sick.  


Even Urahara and Unohana were afraid to move. Leaving prints on a dead body was definitely not a good thing, especially in their… profession.  


“Who was this kid?” The voice was soft as Unohana knelt near the scene. The smell of blood was already thick in the air and the sharp metallic taste was heavy on the tongues of the bystanders. She looked back over her shoulder, gentle eyes trying to peer under the shaded brim of the man’s hat.  


To her surprise, there was no shadow or cloak over the shopkeeper’s face. His expression was of shock and pain. Whoever this boy had been, he had obviously been very important to her friend.  


“Kisuke?” she tried again.  
This time the man’s tormented orbs met her own. The intensity of pain was almost unspeakable in their hazy depths. “Retsu, I...”  
They were silenced as the victim’s eyes fluttered, warm brown eyes opening before the boy’s face scrunched up in disgust.  


***----------***

“Ichigo?” The shocked tone of the usually unflustered man caught the boy’s attention, those confused eyes shooting over to the man’s face.  


“Geta-boshi?” he asked hoarsely, eyebrows knitting together at the jovial man’s worried face. A mixture of hope, fear, and desperation seemed to age those grey eyes, and Ichigo couldn’t understand why he would look at him like that.  


Now that he was thinking about it, where was he? How did he get here? Before he could ask, movement behind the familiar figure brought his focus back to the outerworld.  


There was over twenty people there, not just Urahara. Beside him, was a woman with long silver hair pulled back in one thick braid that draped over her shoulder. Behind them were people he didn’t recognize.  


A man with long white hair watched him sadly, while the long black-haired man in a bright pink yukata and stubbled face tried to comfort him. Another long-haired raven stared back apathetically as he pat a short, raven-haired girl gently on the head. They were probably siblings if Ichigo didn’t miss his guess. He couldn’t see Yoruichi anywhere, but he vaguely recognized the tan girl Yoruichi had photos of in the house, the girl she had been mentoring...Soi Fon?. There were more, but the darkness made it hard to see anything clearly and his vision was still blurry. They were all staring at him with expressions varying from horror to disgust to sorrow. What is going on?’  


He tried to sit up, but the ground was wet and he slipped back down into the puddle he was laying in. Bringing his hand up to his face, scarlet fluid reflected back at him. Desperately, he struggled to sit up, the pain of injuries clearing the fog from his mind.  


Blood. It’s blood.  


His gaze shot back to Urahara, but the man only watched him carefully. “Wha-!” He finally managed to pull himself to his hands and knees, the onlookers staring in disbelief, and he understood why. The pool of life reflected his face back at him; wide, scared eyes and blood everywhere. The horror of his situation struck him and he bent over to throw up. Ripples appeared on the surface as his body began to shake.  


Memories flooded his mind. A dark road and warm wind. He hadn’t been paying attention and before he knew it, he was surrounded on all sides. Nearly fifteen people, their faces obscured by the shadows the moon was casting, and each leered back at him, eyes cold and dangerous. His heart had pounded in his chest as they closed in. Flashes of pain and fear filled his mind. He remembered being struck and crying out, over and over.  


The shaking was gradually increasing as a sob worked its way up his throat. His breathing became ragged and uneven, almost to the point of hyperventilating.  


A knife cut a thin red stripe down his chest as they held him down, and then… then nothing.  


“Oh, God, no.” he sighed out in horror, his legs giving out as he sat back in the gore.  


***----------***

Urahara watched the attack come on, the boy’s whole body quivering. The barely audible words reached his ear just a moment before the boy sat down hard, the dark liquid splashing up around him.  


The fear and panic swirling in those gentle brown eyes tore into the man. Who could have done this? What could make Ichigo act this way? As far as he knew, there was only one thing that could terrify the proud man before him, and that had been dealt with to a manageable degree.  


...or so he thought.  


Ichigo reached out a shaking hand, those tormented eyes drawing the man forward until he embraced him gently. It was like holding a child. Ichigo trembled against him as he tried desperately to calm down.  


Urahara simply ignored the people around him, pouring all of his focus to the boy before him. He had never looked younger or more vulnerable. It was like the day he had first showed up, the day Ichigo’s mother, Masaki, died.  


“It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault.”he muttered over and over. The initial fear and confusion of the situation now worn off and the rest of his co-workers were curious, highly interested in what was going on.  


It wasn’t every day a dead boy came back to life calling your boss a strange name and then continued to blame himself for some unknown thing.  


“Ichigo,” Urahara said gently. “Can you tell me what happened?”  


Watery eyes finally, began to leak. “I should have paid more attention. If I had just… been more careful… then….” That was all he could get out before the tears ran down his cheeks, clearing away trails in the red and staining his bruised skin a pink shade. He held the orange-haired teen as he sobbed on his shoulder, gently rocking him. Blood stained his pale green robes and smeared across his hands, but he ignored it. Belatedly, he noticed that the blood was still lukewarm, still wet and slick.  


“Tell me what’s going on. You gotta let me in.”  


“I wasn’t careful enough geta-boshi. If I had just looked around and been more focussed on my surroundings everything would be okay. I should have been more aware. I just forgot my lessons.”  


“Aware of what, Ichigo? Tell me what happened.” The voice was still gentle, but now there was a definite order in the tone. The man shook for a moment before taking a deep, equally shaky breath.  


“I didn’t notice I was being followed while I was walking home. Before I knew it, I was surrounded. I was fighting but,” he looked momentarily at Urahara, searching for something desperately for a moment, “one on sixteen isn’t really fair.” Grey eyes flashed for a moment, but the man said nothing. His team watched carefully. Unstable was definitely a word to describe their current situation.  


“No it’s not.” The voice was still gentle and quiet, but their was something dangerous in it now, something that should definitely not be riled any more than it already was.  


The orange-haired kid didn’t seem to notice their leader’s plight, mind still caught in the in the memory as he spoke. “I was doing well at first, took out ten or eleven right from the start, no problem. ...but the rest of them stood back when the first couple jumped me, waiting till I was tired before attacking all at once. The guy behind me knocked my legs out and the rest held me down.” It was strange hearing the recount. As scared as the guy was, the part about being outnumbered and held down didn’t seem to phase him at all.  


“It was when the big guy pulled out a blade though, pressed the edge into the base of my neck and made a thin slice to the rim of my pants….” now his voice wavered again. The fear was coming back and Urahara rubbed his back comfortingly in an attempt to help him continue, mind already whirring with ways to make the attackers suffer.  


Ichigo swallowed the bile rising in his throat, fighting to get to the part that needed to be said. “I got scared, geta-boshi. I-I know better, but I panicked for just a moment…forgot my training and… and blanked.” His hands gripped the older man’s in a vice, “I blanked.”  


“Blanked?” Renji couldn’t help it. Of all the terrible things that happened to the kid that night, and ‘blanking’ was what shook him up so much? Even Ex-Captain Kisuke Urahara looked a bit stunned. At his voice, Ichigo jumped, literally stumbling away a bit as he stared at the gathered crowd, realizing just now it was much bigger than he had originally judged.  


With those same wide eyes, almost like he was slipping into some terrible trance and looking back on the memories he said, “It was a massacre.” His voice was hollow, almost haunted, and the words were chilling, especially coming from their blood-soaked new friend.  


“A massacre?” Now it was Unohana who spoke up, voice as soothing as possible so they wouldn’t scare him away before he explained. The redhead glanced back at the ex-captain and, receiving a nod, turned to answer the woman.  


“I forgot how to stay in control.” He swallowed thickly. “I was afraid I was going to die. The man brought the knife back and looked like he was going to gut me, and I just blanked. If I had just stayed in control...” he trailed off again, hands gripping his hair in worry as a new look dawned on the shopkeeper’s face, something anxious and grim, though the rest of the group.  


“What was a massacre Ichigo? Who did it?” The generally playful man was dead serious now, no hint of even gentleness in his voice. It was frightening to see such a change in the eccentric scientist, but something was definitely going on.  


Ichigo grabbed the man, desperate now. “You have to help them. It’s all my fault. Please, don’t let them die. Shiro got out and I just couldn’t hold him back!” The boy broke down again.  


The scientist hugged the youth close, almost like he was trying to hold him together. “Everyone, as a favor to me, please scout the area. When you find this massacre, report back and get Unohana out there. Those men can’t die. I won’t let him take the punishment for this.”  


At once, the group ran off into the darkness leaving the two figures kneeling next to the bedraggled figure. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”  


“It’s okay, it’s not your fault.” Urahara calmed him, but Ichigo simply shook his head and continued to whisper apologies.  


A phone rang and Unohana lifted the small device to her ear, nodding once and, with a quiet promise to return, hurried off down a road to the left.  


“Come on, I’ll get you to my place. Everything will be fine.”  


“I should have been more careful.”  


“I’ve got you, sleep.”  


Those were the last words he heard before slipping into blissful unconsciousness. Thankfully, he did not dream.  


***----------***


End file.
